Rothesay Life shareholdings purchased by institutional investors

GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, together with US hedge fund Blackstone are about to purchase 30% shareholdings in Rothesay Life, the British insurance operations of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The said transaction was confirmed by the Financial Times last Thursday, citing people familiar with the said transaction.

The proposed deal is said to be worth about GBP900 million or USD1.40 billion, according to estimates from the Financial Times.

Another 6% of the said insurer is also being discussed for sale to Massachusetts Mutual, a US life insurance firm.

The plan of Goldman Sachs to sell off its European insurance business was reported early this month by Reuters. The plan's timetable would have the business divested by the next year.Both GIC and Blackstone were unavailable for a comment on the news report beyond office hours. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs had declined to make any comment on the matter.